


Like the Depths of the Oceans

by Yesacia



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Almost Little Mermaid AU, Bit more modern, Lance doesn't fit in, M/M, Think Lance is Ariel and Hunk is Eric, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-16 06:32:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13630638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yesacia/pseuds/Yesacia
Summary: Lance the prince of a Mer Pod, but isn't anything at all like his fellow Mer-folk. He finds himself with a fascination for all things surface world, and finds himself further ostracized from his people. When he hears a legend of another Mer from darker waters with mysterious powers, he runs away from home in the hopes he can find a way to get to the only place that feels like home.Special thanks to a beautiful-minded Biscotti Boy for inspiring this, it was fun to write.





	1. Chapter 1

  Lance was still just a Guppy when he came across his first object from the surface world. A large round object, with a wide round reflective piece that glistened in the dark of the ocean. A long tail stretched so high, he couldn't find the end. Wide blue eyes seemed to widen even further, blinking at the device as it dragged itself across the ocean floor,kicking up dust and frightening the animals. It was making a murky cloud that seemed to both frighten and fascinate the Guppy. When Lance placed a clawed, webbed hand on to the rock in front of him and started to push himself up, his mother pushed him back down instantly. 

  "That's a surface object, Lance." She cooed, but something troubled her deeply. He'd never seen his brave, strong mother so bothered before, as if she would run away at any moment. He held fast to her tail, not nearly the strong simmer she was. The strong muscles were tense, and her long pointed frills on either side of her face went flat against her head, shrinking herself down, making her seem so small. "Lance, you have to avoid these things at all costs." He nodded, sensing her obvious discomfort, but looked on to the object again, tracing it's long tail with his eyes.

  "Where does that go?" He pointed towards it curiously, and his mother ducked into the shadows of the rocks, tugging him along swiftly.

  "All the way to the surface." She pointed up. "You must never, ever, go there. Any Mer who goes that high would be killed by the surface dwellers long before he broke the water to see the sun." It was a little frightening, but curiosity was always stronger in Lance as he looked up into the murky darkness.

  "What is the Sun?" The object made a strange sound that hurt his ears, and his mother hissed.

  "Never mind that Lance. We need to go. The Surface folk have never made it this far before." She turned quickly and he held tight, caught up in the slip stream behind her and being tugged along.

  "How high is the Sun?" He called to her, but she didn't reply, and it left him wondering what she meant by breaking water to see the sun.

 

  After a few years, Lance had taken up adventuring on his own, often going much farther than anyone dared. He ducked in and around the rocks and the plants, picking up small rocks and shells along the way. He had a habit of collecting things that he found interesting, but over the years his habit had become dull, and he'd become picky. After so many years, he grew tired of showing his mother the same kinds of rocks and shells. It was really the only hobby he had, given that he couldn't play with any of the other Mer children. Their parents were concerned that Lance had come across some kind of disease, the way his body had stayed streamlined and thin like a shark or a dolphin, rather than his more whale like neighbors. Though he ate seemingly endlessly, the boy never gained the weight the other children did, and the coolness of the water often made it difficult for him with out that protective layer. He didn't even develop the same scales as his siblings, dark black and violets while his were a dazzling blue with just the slightest flecks of yellow. They often worried their children would get caught up in his bright colors and be swallowed up by another predator of the sea. What skin showed was a warm brown that seemed more fit of the tropical Merfolk in southern oceans. Even as his skin helped him hide in the darkness, his shining scales were a dead giveaway. He didn't mind it as much, he found other things to do, and he was adapting to the cold, as difficult as it was. He was getting lonely, and bored, so everyday he seemed to venture further away from his home, much to the protesting of guards and siblings.

  It was on one of these casual ventures he traveled farther than he ever had, and found something amazing. It was long, flat, covered in sand but sticking out from the ground at an angle. He tilted his head a little, looking around to be safe, and made his way over. He grabbed it and gave it a firm yank, and it didn't budge. he grabbed it with both hands and pulled with all his might, a piece breaking free and sending him reeling. When he caught himself, and got a sense for what had happened, he looked for the piece frantically. It didn't take him long to find it, and he scooped it up carefully, admiring the way it had some foreign texture. It was covered in small plants and shell creatures, like a stone underwater for all of time, but the object itself was unlike any stone he'd ever seen. as his brushed an edge his hissed. It was sharp, and if not for his scales he'd surely bleed. He tilted it around in his hand with a grin, looking down at the rocks and shells he'd dropped and finding them much less appealing. He swam circles around the mysterious object before swimming back home with his prize.

His mother was much less pleased, grounding him with a stern voice that warned him she was going easy on him but wouldn't for long.

  It didn't take long before her warning was forgotten.


	2. Different

  Lance yawned, stretching in the small cavern he dwelled in before swimming out, his siblings crowded around each other and chatting. They feel silent as Lance passed, but he'd adapted to that by now. His smile didn't even leave his face as he made his way to a tall rock formation in the middle of the rocky expanse he called home, the entrance of the cavern at the top was decorated in smooth stones and brilliant shells, long plants blocking the entrance from vision unless one knew to look for it. He passed through the plants easily, entering a wide open cave and grinning at a long black scaled mer.

 "Morning Mother!" She turned, a sharp toothed smile curling on to her face.

 "My little Lance!" She swam over and scooped the much smaller mer in a strong hug. "Happy Hatching, my little guppy!" She cooed lovingly, and stroked his cheek.

 "Thank you." She turned back to where she'd been working, stringing together plant fibers to make a long chain. Instead of returning to her work, however, she lifted a long piece from the pile, dangling from the end was a long sharp tooth. "What's that?"

 "Your present, little one." She smiled, the only one he allowed to call him little. It didn't feel as demeaning from her. She placed the plant chain around his neck and smiled as he admired her work, the chain wrapped tight around a familiar triangular tooth. "It's from your first shark!" Lance grinned.

 "Oh, it's nice Mama, I love it."

 "You know only Princes could ever take down a shark." She beamed proudly, and he nodded as she spoke, not really wanting to hear where he knew the conversation was heading. "And as a Prince, you know, it's going to come time for you to form your own Pod soon, with one of the beautiful Mers here." He rolled his eyes. He knew this was coming. "And seeing as you're finally in your twentieth year, don't you think it's about time you picked one?" She hinted, not so subtly. "Unless you've already found one you like?"

 "Well you know...I still have many years left," Lance laughed a bit nervously. "And I'm very picky, Mama." She nodded understandingly.

  "Well as a Prince and my son, you certainly deserve the best. Now that young fish from-"

 "I have to go, Mother. Good bye! Thanks for the present!" He said quickly, speeding off before he could hear anymore. He passed by a few groups of mer who begrudgingly told him Happy Hatching Day, but still cringed away in fear of catching the 'disease' he had. He mostly ignored them, swimming out into the sea and waving at the guards as he passed. They didn't try stopping him any more, or convince him to stay home, only called out warnings to be careful and be back soon. He sped through the open ocean, much older now and much less afraid. Being the top predator in the ocean, there was very little that would dare attack him. He twirled around idly as he swam, but with absolute direction.

 Far from his home was a deep cavern, and he glanced around before diving in excitedly. Inside was a small treasure trove of Ocean oddities, and it was the one place Lance felt comfortable. He admired strange colored stones, odd shaped shells, and bits and pieces he couldn't identify from places he didn't really know. Things that didn't come from the ocean. Round things, flat things, things that came from somewhere far away. Somethings were pieces of a much larger object he had found lodged into the sand, something his mother called a 'boat' and warned him to stay away from. Sometimes he liked to take one of his claws and scratch at the rough surface, just to watch the brown flakes float away. He lifted up a small round object and smiled at it. It was strange, odd, didn't belong, and he felt at home in the oddities. He frowned as he looked down at his own body, so thin and brightly colored. He sighed and looked back up to the round object, smile returning just a bit sadly. He hummed a little, thoughtfully, one webbed hand sliding across the bumpy surface, some parts were darker than others, it was one of the oldest pieces in his collection. Another Mer had said it was a 'wheel', something used to drive the 'boats'. Another thing that made him so much different. He had a fascination with all things from beyond the surface. He wanted to see a boat, how it moved. He wanted to see the Sun. He picked at the brown on the wheel, a bit at the algae and tiny ocean plants starting to grow. He watched them float away, and kind of wished he could too. He thought back to his mother and her hints at his own Pod again. It wasn't that he hadn't tried. He'd flirted left and right, and while he did get some attention as a Prince and as the Pods greatest hunter, no one really like him. He was even a top notch singer, and was the fastest Mer in the Pod. His odd body and recklessness soon drove away anyone who even tried considering him as a mate. While he could be an excellent provider, and he liked to think an excellent mate, his shiny tail and love for seemingly dangerous things seemed to drive everyone away, not to mention how cold he got when the tides changed. It was a wonder he hadn't gone belly up yet. 

  He watched the flakes float away and wondered if maybe he could swim to tropical waters. Maybe he was a fresh water fish anyway. He'd heard his father was a Mer from a far away ocean, were sharks were plenty, and they didn't even have Orcas, and it was warm almost all the time. It sounded nice, maybe like where he was supposed to be from, but here he was. He scratched off a few more flakes, watching them go too. He sighed and set it back down, not even really feeling at home here in his secret hide away. He found himself swimming out of the cavern and swimming towards home, though a bit aimlessly. He grumbled a little, not really looking forward to his birthday party. He smiled at the necklace he had a bit fondly, a bit sadly. He appreciated the fact at least one mer didn't treat him like a freak, but it only made him feel worse knowing the only mer happened to be his mother. He grumbled, blowing bubbles a bit impatiently, watching them float away with a crazy thought. He watched them go, up, up, up...

His mother's warnings blared like an alarm in his head, the memories of Mer who'd gone up and never come down again sent a shiver down his spine.

A little curiosity bubbled in to his chest none the less.

After all...

It was his birthday.

He wouldn't go too high.

He was on his way up before he even knew it.


End file.
